Additional Comments on Tiger's Injuries

I thought you might like a little more detail so I just picked this up at ESPN. This is sort of a copy and paste. But Hank Haney was with Tiger when his doctors told him he should not play so here is Hank's take on it.

Hank Haney, Woods' swing coach, said Wednesday that the world's No. 1-ranked golfer defied his doctor's advice and even predicted he'd win the Open.

"The week of Memorial [two weeks before the Open], I thought there was no chance he could play," Haney said in a telephone interview from his home in Texas. "The doctors told him he needed to be on crutches for three weeks and then three more weeks of inactivity, and then you start rehabbing.

"But Tiger looked the guy in the eye and said, 'I'm playing in the U.S. Open and I'm going to win.' "

"And then he started putting on his shoes," Haney recalled. "He looked at me and said, 'Come on, Hank. We'll just putt today.' Every night, I kept thinking there was no chance he's going to play. He had to stop in his tracks for 30 seconds walking from the dining room table to the refrigerator.

"He was not going to miss the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. There just wasn't any discussion."

Haney said the extent of Woods' preparation for the U.S. Open was hitting four or five practice balls at a time before heading back to a golf cart.

"He couldn't walk," Haney said. "The 50 balls I'm talking about him hitting included the first 15 warm-up wedges. You're talking about 30 full swings a day."

"Tiger has such an incredible pain tolerance," Haney said. "When he said he was going to play, I knew he was going to play. The thing that concerned me most was, was he going to be able to walk? Was it just going to deteriorate so much that he wasn't going to be able to swing at all?

"And that didn't take into account the issue that he hadn't had any preparation. He didn't get to play. He didn't get to do anything. That was the concern. But Tiger has such an incredible pain tolerance.

"In my mind, I honestly thought he was just going to give it his best effort, his 100 percent best effort all the way up until the tournament. I knew he wasn't going to bag it two weeks before. He was going to hope for a miracle until the last possible point that he couldn't make it. In my mind, that was the most likely scenario: He just would try until the end and then come to the realization that he couldn't go. When he canceled out of the Memorial, he was in real bad shape then. He couldn't have played in the U.S. Open then. He couldn't even move."

Haney believes Woods had no choice but to go through with surgery now. And that, in the long run, he'll be better off.

"Why wouldn't he? I expect him to be much better than ever," Haney said. "He's going to have a strong leg and a structurally sound knee. He hasn't had that in years. There is no reason that he won't be better than he's ever been. He's going to have all this time to think about the improvements that he's going to make in his golf swing and everything else.

"It's just incredible he accomplished what he did. I'm so proud of him. I can't believe it. The guy's heart and his toughness ... wow. It really is just wow. I don't know what more you can say than that."

Well, there you have it.

Tiger Wins 2008 US Open Ending His 2008 Season

By now everyone knows the outcome of probably the most amazing US Open in the history of the game. The world watched as a wounded Tiger played through the pain for 91 holes and willed his way to his 14th Major.

We knew about the knee ... it was so obvious. But we didn't know he was playing with a double stress fracture of the left tibia. Tiger said nothing about it. It happened just before the Memorial. But he was determined to play in the Open and win.

The doctors tell Tiger that the stress fractures will heal with time. How much time will be required is unknown. Tiger says the fractures were the source of his greatest pain during the game.

He is finished for the year, but not without that one last major victory that capped off a painful 10 months.

What we didn't know was that he has had a torn ligament in the knee since last July. So surgery was not optional. But he delayed it. He wanted to go for his 14th and maybe get in some more majors before going under the knife.

He says he tore the ACL while jogging at home after the British Open last July. He chose not to have surgery at that time and continued on to win seven consecutive victories, including the Dubai Desert Classic in Europe and his Target World Challenge, an unofficial event.

He had arthroscopic surgery April 15 to clean out cartilage in his left knee, bypassing ACL surgery with hopes it could get him through the 2008 season. But going 91 holes for his 14th career major made it impossible to play any longer.

Here's a quote: "Although I will miss the rest of the 2008 season, I'm thrilled with the fact that last week was such a special tournament."

Well, to sum it up, he misses a major for the first time this year and will not be in the Ryder Cup.

He has played seven times worldwide this year and won five of them. In retrospect, his performance at Torrey Pines was even more than spectacular. It was more like miraculous.

This was the Tiger's disclosure statement:

"I know much was made of my knee throughout the last week and it was important to me that I disclose my condition publicly at an appropriate time. I wanted to be very respectful of the USGA and their incredibly hard work and make sure the focus was on the US Open.

"Now it is clear that the right thing to do is to listen to my doctors, follow through with this surgery and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee."

Prayers for complete recovery, Tiger.

by
Marion

US Open Goes to Playoff - 3rd Round Video Here

Tiger made a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate scheduled for Monday. In the meantime, you can watch a 3rd-round video of all of Tiger's shots on Saturday. Take a look ...





Marion

Tiger Takes the Lead on Saturday at the US Open

The 50,000 + gallery broke out in deafening roars at least three times on Saturday in response to one of the most incredibly exciting rounds golf has ever seen. Tiger Woods, playing through increasing pain, began the round with a double bogey at the 1st and another bogey on 4. Often grimacing in pain at the end of a swing, it became obvious that the knee was taking a beating.

Then it happened on the 615 yard par 5-13th. His drive went awry far to the right into the gallery. But he was able to make an incredible shot to the back of the green. It was a dangerous 66 feet to an eagle that, if it should miss, could go all the way down the hill back into the fairway. But the Tiger put it in the hole. The crowd went wild and so did he. The roar must have been heard miles away. That put him at a minus 1 within two of the lead.

However, he bogied the next hole retreating back to even par. Next he had a couple of pars and then a bad lie in the rough as a result of an extremely painful approach shot at the par 4-17th. His third shot looked like an impossibility and saving par looked pretty bleak. However, his chip shot out of the rough, took one bounce and dropped into the hole. It was unbelievable and laughable. The crowd went wild and Tiger could only shake his head and laugh. He was back to 1 under.

In the meantime, Rocco Mediate came back to even par from the lead and Lee Westwood was leading at 2 under. Westwood went into the Clubhouse from 18 with two under.

On the 573 yard par 5-18th, Tiger somehow managed to put his ball on the back of the green in two. He no longer had two legs, so he had to come up with a unique cut that took some of the pressure off the knee. From there he made the most unbelievable, impossible 30 foot eagle for a three under par to take the lead. The crowd went wild.

Can the knee survive today? Can he handle 18 holes on Sunday? If he can get through the rest of the tourney, can he win it? One thing is certain: He is going to get tons of support from the fans. This has been an amazing day at Torrey Pines!

Marion

Sergio Two Putts 4-Footer To Take The Players Championship

Way to go, Sergio. He's way overdue and he actually kissed his renegade putter when it was over. Lots of "ifs" for Paul Goydos, who was making a diligent effort for his first big one. But it was not to be.

After Goydos finished 18 and moved into the clubhouse, I jokingly asked the group sitting around the TV, "What if there is a playoff and they start it at 17?" Of course, everyone laughed. We were all shocked when the announcement was made that 17 would be the first playoff hole.

We were also shocked when a gust of wind dropped Goydos' wedge shot into the water. But Sergio dropped a beautiful shot in the middle of the green and it rolled within in a very makeable distance to the hole. Goydos made his drop and his putt rolled on past the hole.

Sergio addressed the ball from 4 feet and his reluctant putter failed him. But on his second putt, the ball dropped and Sergio was $1.7 million dollars richer. Paul Goydos earned $1.026,000.00 so he will no doubt buy nice presents for his mom and daughters.

Upon presentation of the Trophy, the Spaniard's response was, "The first person I want to thank is Tiger Woods -- for not being here." Maybe that did help a little...

Marion

Kim Makes Wachovia Look Easy

Anthony Kim took control of the field at Quail Hollow and cruised to an impressive 5-shot win over Ben Curtis with a record 16 under par becoming the youngest winner in six years. With a change in attitude and in solid control of his temper, he looked like the champion we have expected him to be.

At only 5' 10" and 160 lb, it was pretty impressive to observe his power to drive the ball an average of 305.5 yards in the tourney. He should be brimming with confidence next weekend in the Players.

Here's how Anthony puts it: "I was an immature kid last year, and I feel like I've grown up quite a bit." The transformation was obvious . Can he be consistent? Time will tell. But if he is, look out Phil, Adam, Ernie, Steve, Geoff, et al. Kim has just moved up from 37 to 16 in World Golf rankings.

DID ADAM DO A FIST PUMP? - BYRON NELSON

Yes, he did it! Adam Scott after surrendering his three-shot lead to Ryan Moore struggled to regain it and win the Byron Nelson. Actually, he just caught Ryan, who was playing splendid golf, on the "final" (well, not really final) eighteenth hole.

The two see-sawed back and forth with Ryan finishing first at 7 under. He then waited for Adam, who finally caught up with a birdie at 18. Actually, Adam did a kinda, sorta pump on that birdie. A little bit of a glint in his eye. Made a person think, "Maybe he's going after it." We've been waiting a long time to see Adam take an aggressive stand. With all that ability, we expected more than what we have seen from this talented young Aussie. But almost every time we think he has it, he just fades away. Well, not this time!

He and Ryan both missed opportunities on the first two playoff holes. But for Adam, the third was the charm. Back on 18 for the third time that day, he hit a 48-foot putt that rolled perfectly on line all the way to the hole and dropped decisively in.

That's when Scotty reacted! Fist pump and an almost roar. For Adam, that's raw emotion. I thought if Ryan could make his putt, we would see an Adam Scott we haven't seen before on the 4th playoff hole. But it was not to be. Ryan's putt rolled past and he had to settle for second.

Will this win give Scotty a thirst for W's? We don't have long to wait. He's entered into the Wachovia next weekend.

Oh, and by the way. I missed posting the Verizon last weekend. So Congrats to Boo! He made lots of Texicans happy. Great win.

Marion